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EmailWhen tragedy strikes close to home
Posted Jun 26 2020 in About Jen, Community, England, Family, Friendship
I’ve now lived in Canada for almost five years and although England will always be one of my ‘homes,’ my English and Canadian lives rarely intersect. Last weekend was different, though, and I was reminded that despite being geographically distant, my English ‘home’ is, and always will be, close in heart. In England, we lived near […]
Read More...Staying apart but joining together: The rise of ‘caremongering’
Posted Mar 20 2020 in About Jen, Ballet, Community, Family, Home, Reading, Small town life
With the rapid spread of the Covid-19 pandemic, in only a few weeks life as we know it has changed almost beyond recognition—and in ways unprecedented in my lifetime—so we’re all adapting to a new normal. Yet, as I stay apart from others (and social distancing is one of the many new expressions I’ve learned […]
Read More...Grit, passion and more: How my hometown shaped my life and writing
Posted Nov 29 2019 in About Jen, Community, Home, Small town life, The Wishing Tree in Irish Falls, Writing
Last weekend, something extraordinary happened for my hometown (American) football team. After twenty-nine long years, the Winnipeg Blue Bombers won the Grey Cup, the Canadian Football League (CFL) championship. Unlike my late mom, I’m not a football fan. I gleaned the little I know of the game from glimpsing my high school team practicing […]
Read More...Asking ‘what if’ and building a book: ‘The Wishing Tree in Irish Falls’
Posted Oct 18 2019 in About Jen, Community, Family, Small town life, The Wishing Tree in Irish Falls, Writing, Writing craft
My new book (and first in a new series), The Wishing Tree in Irish Falls, came out last week. I’m heartened by how many of you are excited to read the story and touched by the lovely things early readers have said about it. If you’ve already posted a review on Amazon, Goodreads or elsewhere, […]
Read More...New hope and Colouring The World Orange
Posted Nov 9 2018 in About Jen, Community, CRPS, Family, Gratitude
Orange is not my colour. At best, it makes me look sallow. At worst, ill. Yet, this month (dubbed NERVember by the International Pain Foundation), I’m taking pride in wearing orange to raise awareness of Complex Regional Pain Syndrome (CRPS, also known as Reflex Sympathetic Dystorphy, RSD), and support those, including English Rose, battling this […]
Read More...Disconnected from a connected world
Posted Oct 12 2018 in About Jen, Books, Community, Reading, The Cottage at Firefly Lake
If you follow me on social media, you know that I was unexpectedly offline for most of last week when work to lay underground fiber optic cables cut existing cables that deliver landline phone and internet service to my home. As someone who is almost always connected to the wider world, I was all of […]
Read More...Prayers for Humboldt
Posted Apr 13 2018 in About Jen, Back Home at Firefly Lake, Books, Canada, Community, Family, Firefly Lake, Home, Prayers for Humboldt, Small town life
A week ago, on a remote Saskatchewan highway, sixteen people were killed and thirteen others injured in a crash between a semi-trailer truck and a bus carrying players, coaches, a trainer, a local radio announcer and others associated with a Canadian junior (ice) hockey team, the Humboldt Broncos. Before then, Humboldt was a small […]
Read More...Gratitude and new beginnings
Posted Oct 7 2016 in About Jen, Canada, Community, Family, Gratitude, Home, New beginnings, Small town life
My small town has recently welcomed a Syrian refugee family. Soon after their arrival, the newspaper ran a picture of the mom, dad and their three young children playing in the local park. It was an ordinary, yet also extraordinary scene. Our new neighbours have spent the last three years in a refugee camp not […]
Read More...Life lessons in ABC
Posted Jun 3 2016 in About Jen, Community, Family, Friendship, Word for the year, Writing, Writing craft
We’ve all had times which have brought more life lessons than we wanted to learn. As the primary caregiver for a child diagnosed with a chronic illness, the past five months have been that way for me. Yet, as I look back, I realize that maybe they were lessons I needed to learn and they’re […]
Read More...Canadian repatriation: Month 9
Posted Apr 22 2016 in About Jen, Community, Family, Friendship, Gratitude
It’s now three-quarters of a year since I returned to live in Canada. Nine months is the same length of time as a pregnancy and in many ways, these past months have been similarly life changing. There have been times of great joy. Getting the book deal I’d worked toward for years. Seeing English Rose […]
Read More...The Latest News
- May 01, 2020: Reading (and Writing) for Hope, Comfort & Happy Ever After: Guest post for Women Writers, Women’s Books
- Apr 22, 2020: Author Q&A: Chatting with Anita Kushwaha about ‘The Wishing Tree in Irish Falls,’ favourite authors, lockdown life & more
- Mar 10, 2020: Penguin Verlag buys German rights to The Wishing Tree in Irish Falls
- Mar 06, 2020: Celebrating Women’s History Month & ‘Women who have gone before’: Guest post on Mel Greenberg’s ‘Notes from the Nest’
- Mar 05, 2020: Paperback of The Wishing Tree in Irish Falls releases April 12, 2020 & now available for pre-order
- Feb 26, 2020: Meet me at the Local Author Showcase, North Grenville Public Library, February 29, 2020
- Dec 20, 2019: Talking about life & writing on Arabella’s Blog and Chit-Chat
- Nov 18, 2019: Chatting with author Maggie Blackbird about my writing life & ‘The Wishing Tree in Irish Falls’
- Nov 15, 2019: Interview with author Susan B. James about ‘The Wishing Tree in Irish Falls’
- Oct 30, 2019: Asking ‘what if’ and building a book: The Wishing Tree in Irish Falls